Ian Bremmer laments weakening of US-Europe alliance

The weakening of the alliance between the US and Europe will become increasingly apparent in 2016, comments political scientist Ian Bremmer in the centre-left daily El País: "The divisions between the US and Europe will be apparent this year on the issues of Ukraine and Syria. The US will stick to its principles: it will insist on maintaining the sanctions against Russia until Ukraine frees itself from Putin and on al-Assad's departure. The Europeans, who are suffering the direct consequences of these two situations, will opt for pragmatism. The EU will no doubt relax the sanctions against Russia and pick out its enemies in Syria one by one. The loss of substance in transatlantic relations will also mean that in the future it won't matter that the United States and Europe have more in common with each other than with China; the economic realities will weigh more than shared values. This is a pity for an alliance that, despite all its defects, has contributed more than any other to promoting democracy, freedom of expression and the rule of law."